Shelley & Heather - Day 3

[shelley]

Tim here for Shelley: It's been about 48 hours since the transplant surgeries. Both Shelley (donor) & Heather (recipient) are resting and recovering well. The donated kidney is off and running - Heather's creatine level has dropped in half from a pre-op level of 7+ to right around 3. Hundreds of CCs of urine have already been produced -- never thought pee could look so good.

Physically, the surgery was a little tougher on Shelley, but that was expected. Both ladies gained 10-15 pounds in fluid since the surgery. Apparently, this is intentional, as they want to plump up the kidneys with lots of fluid right after the surgery. The fluid caused some shortness of breath last night & this morning, but Lasix was added to I-V and Shelley's made several and frequent trips to the bathroom since this morning.

If things go well,Shelley may leave the hospital tomorrow, which is amazing.

Attached is a photo of Sidney the Kidney while in transition between the ladies. The surgical staff were real good sports and took our camera into the surgery room for a couple shots. I'll send the other photo in a separate post.

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[shelley]

Here's a picture of Sidney in the capable hands of Shelley's surgeon, Dr. Chapman.

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[shelley]

And here's the dynamic duo together in Heather's room just 24 hours following their surgeries. What a wonderful & adventurous journey it's been.

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[bergstromtori]

Thanks for the update

[Aries7]

Fantastic news Tim and great pictures too! Thank you so much for the update. Please give my best to both Shelley and Heather -they both look great!

Linda

[Orchidlady]

The photos are lovely! Thanks for sharing the good news!

[WilliamLFreeman]

   Yesterday afternoon, I flew down to Seattle to visit Shelley & Tim, and Heather (recipient) & Libby (her daughter) & Dave (her husband).  Over the past 1+ year, Shelley & I had e-mailed and talked  fair amount about Swedish, the donor's surgeon (Dr. Chapman, who was my surgeon, too), the process, concerns, questions, etc.
   I was in Canada from last Friday on until late Tuesday (day of surgery) night.  Texting to-from cell phones was the only contact I could have (*NO* e-mail or cell voice where I was); the only cell between the 2 families was Heather's.  So Libby & I texted a lot on Tuesday.  (I came back a day early from Canada, late Tuesday, to be able to visit Shelley & Heather on Wednesday.)
   It was GREAT to finally meet Shelley in person, even if she dosed off for a few seconds at a time from her dope-on-a-rope.  Yes, she was/is a special person.  We both agreed:  she (and I) were not "heroes" -- we just did what needed to be done.  Her fully supportive hubby, Tim, was/is great, too.  And Shelley told me that Shelley's former kidney, now Heather's new-used kidney, is Sidney.
   Shelley said she was not up to walking to meet Heather in the next room just then, so Tim took me next door to meet Heather & Libby.  How often does a complete stranger-man say the very first thing to a stranger-woman, "Happiness is peeing!" -- and the stranger-woman immediately reply, "And real yellow pee, too!"?  Well, that was the start of our long long chat.  Heather is a special person, as is her daughter.  Appreciative beyond words, she still can't believe that Shelley did such a thing.  I did not meet Sidney in person, of course, but Sidney was "doing its thing" at well more than 100 cc. per hour.  AWW-RIGHT!!!
   And, shortly after I arrived, Shelley shuffled in holding her IV pole & nurse as back-up.  That was when Tim took the picture of Shelley & Health that he posted.  Then Shelley said she wanted to kiss Heather -- "ON THE CHEEK!" said the nurse -- and leaned over & did just that.  Both women were beaming.  YYEESS!!
   It was good to watch such a happy, deeply satisfying, time -- and to have had a small supporting role in it.  

[stevewin@windstream.net]

glad both of you are doing great!please update from time to time as you can. steve